Wednesday, May 23, 2018

AmazonBefore anyone leaps to the conclusion that this is a BDSM book, it's not, really. I promise. I know it says "kink" in the title and yes, there is some exploration of submission and domination in this, but this book is so much more than the kink portrayed on the pages.It's a beautiful May/December MM romance that takes you along on the journey that Cal and Frankie make as they both find out just who they are and what they need from each other. The characters are incredibly appealing and work superbly with each other, the sex is red-hot, and the romance is perfectly written for these two men. It's a light touch of Dom/sub which I found to be quite appealing. I can't wait to read the next one in the series. This is great start for what should be a fantastic series from Ms. Ward!

Monday, May 21, 2018

Today we have an excerpt from Shake the Stars, my current MM
contemporary first love, second chance WIP.

Our word prompt today is “Mirror”. In this
scene Dane has returned to the Silver Fir Lodge ten years after falling in love
with – and then losing – Keenan. The men are just about to see each other for the first time since they broke up.

This story may have gay erotic scenes,
strong social issues addressed and mature language. If those things offend now
is the time to move onto another Tuesday Tales blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Twenty-six
hours with little sleep was not a good look on me.

I
flipped the visor of the rental car back up, not pleased at all at the
puffy-eyed, pale visage that had been squinting back at me in the tiny vanity mirror. I looked like an extra in a
George Romero movie. The sight scared me out of my beard. Kidding. I’d left the
scraggly beard in the sink on the plane. Gloria was right, the dark facial hair
had added ten years to me. While I did look younger, there was not a bit of the
Dane that Keenan had loved ten years ago. My face had a few lines, my
stomach wasn’t quite as firm as it had been back then, and the glow of youth
had been trampled by thirty hiding just around the bend. Shit, I was a fat wino
with no beard and a pallor only a vampire would envy. I should go now before
Keenan saw me and had to pretend that I was—

“Shit!”
I snapped when someone cleared their throat. I whipped my head around to glare
at the tiny blond wearing a spiffy royal blue Silver Fir Lodge polo shirt.
“God, I’m sorry.”

She
smiled timidly as she took a step back from the open window. “Mr. Novak sent me
down to escort you to your cabin. My name’s Victoria.”

She
sketched a little curtsy. Okay, so the tiny thing was adorable, and I’d just
ripped her head off. I was a jerk.

“I’d
love an escort to my cabin.” I was all about making it up to her as I exited my
car and threw my carry-on bag on my shoulder. “I came here ten years ago. Not
much has changed in town.”

“True,
but the Silver Fir Lodge has been renovated and updated from the main lodge to
the guest cabins!” Victoria chatted away, much like Bonnie had done, filling me
in on the lodge’s history, when the meals were served, the tennis court, pool,
and golf course hours, and the nightly family movies which were now being shown
inside the lodge’s new theater. “We even have a snack bar!”

“Wow,”
I said, suitably impressed as we walked down a freshly raked gray gravel path,
the sound of Cranberry Creek burbling bringing a smile to me that I just could
not shake. “When I was here we had to lay out on the grounds to see the movie.”

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Every time Max Van Hellren steps on the ice he knows it could be his last time. At thirty-two he’s past his prime but he’s also hiding a life-threatening injury that private doctors warn could kill him. This is his last season, and there’s a chance he could lift the Stanley Cup after fourteen years in the NHL. He just needs to stay safe and healthy; difficult when he’s known for his heavy hitting and with a propensity for dropping the gloves and putting his body in the way of pucks to keep his team safe. A one-night stand with a sexy man was just what he needed, dangerous and hot, but what if it turned into more? Would he have to share the secrets he so desperately tries to hide?

Ben Worthington had it all. A fulfilling job running the CrossRoads Shelter, his loving aunts, and a husband that understood his devotion to animals. Then, the love of his life left him, succumbing so quickly to an unexpected sickness that Ben never had time to say goodbye. The violent loss scarred him. Unable to move past his fears, he moves from lonely encounter to lonely encounter, slaking a desperate need that is eating away at him, but never making a connection that could lead him back into love. One night with Max makes him want more, but will giving into the temptation open the door to feelings he can’t contain?

Monday, May 14, 2018

Today we have a snippet
from Shake the Stars, my current MM
contemporary romance. In this scene, Dane and Bonnie, a female employee of the
lodge who Dane has kind of befriended, run into Keenan with some of his friends
and Dane has his first bitter taste of jealousy.

This week is our picture
prompt and all snippets must be 300 words or thereabouts.

This story may have gay erotic
scenes, strong social issues addressed and mature language. If those things
offend now is the time to move onto another Tuesday Tales blog. Thanks for
stopping by!

“Oh hey, there’s the pool
crowd! You so need to meet them! Keenan! Drew! Amber!” Bonnie shouted, took me
by the hand, and led me right to a trio of people sitting under a massive red
oak tree. “Guys, this is Dane Forrester, he’s a guest but he’s cool. Oh shit,
hand me some of that. I had to spend all day in the office!”

Amber, I guess it had to
be, passed a skinny joint to Bonnie who sucked a hit into her lungs as if she
were Tommy Chong.

Keenan looked up at me,
the light of the fire dancing on his face. I stared at him, mesmerized by the
play of light touching his cheeks and brow. Bonnie offered the joint to me, but
I shook my head and continued to stare at Keenan like a moron.

“Yeah, we met. How goes
it?” Keenan asked with a soft kind of smile. Bonnie shuffled a little at my
side, blocking the firelight and blotting out being able to read Keenan’s eyes.

Bonnie squeezed my
fingers. The earth could have swallowed me up right then and I would not have
cared. I pulled my hand from hers and put some distance between us. Keenan, it
seemed, cared not a whit about Bonnie and me. His attention was totally on Drew
who was perhaps too good-looking to be anything but a model. Bonnie stood her
ground, sharing a joint with Amber, who had flowing golden hair and a
perma-scowl, while I tried not to notice how Keenan joked with Drew and smiled
warmly at Drew and touched Drew on his bare knee in an intimate way. After a
few minutes it was all too much, and I wandered off, leaving Keenan and fucking
Drew with the stupid perfectly proportionate face to touch and whisper like
lovers. Ugh, they probably were.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Monday, May 7, 2018

Today we have an excerpt from Shake the Stars, my current MM
contemporary romance WIP. This story centers on a summer romance between Dane,
a recent high school graduate, and Keenan, who will be a junior in college come
fall. They meet at a lodge in the Pocono’s where Dane and his family are guests
and Keenan’s employed as a lifeguard. This is a first love, second chance to
find love novel.

Our word prompt today is “Heavy”. In this scene
Keenan and Dane have their first of many early morning meetings.

This story may have gay erotic scenes,
strong social issues addressed and mature language. If those things offend now
is the time to move onto another Tuesday Tales blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Dad
left Sunday evening. The patio was covered with debris and puddles, so I was
stuck sleeping under James again. Sleep was elusive. I tried lying on my back
and chest, left side and then right, but nervous energy snapped and surged
through my veins and along every synapse. If he came to the creek tomorrow to
pray I would call him to this side. And we’d talk. I’d tell him all the
unspoken words. Then what would happen was in the hands of destiny.

I
dozed for a bit, falling off around two and then coming awake sharply at five
thirty. I sat up, choking on my breath, terrified that I’d missed sunrise. My
eyes flew to the glass in the patio door. It was still dark, but a fine glimmer
of a distant sunrise was caressing the sky. I slid out of bed, pulled on some
shorts and a tank top, and then slid outside, closing the door, hand on the
knob and heart trying to slam free of my rib-cage.

When
I turned he was there, barely visible, standing on the opposing bank, the white
of his gauzy pants drawing the meager light. Was he searching the decreasing
darkness looking for me as I was for him? Legs feeling weak but heart beating
stronger than it ever had before, I walked out past the tree that I had previously
hidden behind, exposing myself fully.

A
lone warbler sang out and then silent, the first song of the day slipping into
the heavy moment. Would he see me if
I waved? I took a step, paused, and then another and raised my hand. He
mirrored my movement. A thrill shot through me. Lifting my hand again, the
warbler sang once more as I waved him over.

“I’ll
be right over,” he called to me, his voice loud and brash in the quiet of dawn.
My head spun like an owl, ears picking through the sounds of day and night intermingling,
listening for the sound of my mother or brother. Hearing nothing but the soft
chirrup of crickets and the babble of the brook, I looked back at Keenan.

He
stripped off his gauzy-looking pants and dove into the water in just his
underwear. I threw aside my timidity and dashed to the creek, panic gripping my
insides when he didn’t come back up for what seemed a lifetime. I stood on the
edge of the muddy bank and danced from foot to foot riddled with anxiety. When
he did break the surface, it was near where I stood. My lungs emptied in a
rush. I crouched down by the creek bank. It was perhaps a foot of clay mud and
rocks until the water met the land. Keenan pushed his hair back from his face
and grabbed the land, pulling his upper body up out of the water until he could
rest his arms on the ground. My mind was foggy with lust. He was so masculine,
so beautiful, that I felt enraptured as if I were an ancient Celt witnessing a
selkie coming to shore.